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Book Review of Outlander (Outlander, Bk 1)

Outlander (Outlander, Bk 1)
Outlander (Outlander, Bk 1)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Paperback
Corie avatar reviewed on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 12


I can't remember who or what prompted me to pick up this series in the first place, probably the amount of excellent reviews I kept seeing on it and the fact that I love historical fiction. But I do remember starting out this first book in the Outlander series and thinking: "meh..."

Gabaldon does go on and on with her silly little (pointless) tangents which have nothing to do with the actual plot line and only serve to increase her already bursting word count. During the first half of this book I kept putting it down and my boyfriend kept asking me why I was even bothering.

And then I got to the second half, before I knew it I was knee deep in Gabaldon worship just like the rest of the female population. Holy crap, how much do we love Jamie Fraser? Gabaldon has created the most perfectly imperfect, intense, wonderful, rugged, passionate, lovable, beautiful specimen on paper. (Have you ever googled "outlander movie"? Much to the chagrin of every warm blooded woman out there (and possibly some men...) there is not a movie version of this fantastic hero. But that doesn't stop everyone from casting him. Go check out some of the "who's your Jamie" fan sites, suggesting dozens upon dozens of different actors to portray this god among men.)

Anyway, Excellent novel. An intense read with characters you will know intimately once you close the back cover. Very emotional series. I couldn't read just book one. I had to keep buying the next one in the series. And then the next one...

I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in history and who is above reading a bit of fluff. This is a challenging, engrossing read. Definitely on my "to keep" shelf.